azalea wrote on Nov 4^th, 2011 at 3:06am:

I also think although they migt be fast, they are less agile than a human in water. So a good swimmer might be able to outlast a bear. All of this is pure speculation.

Until hypothermia sets in.   :D

There isn't an animal out there that has any real problem with water.  Any that ever did either learned to deal with water or died off. 
I'm not a fan of island sites, unless the island is large.  They're little micro-environments and can be very sensitive.
In the rare event that you do have a bear problem, would you rather be locked on an island with the bear or have somewhere for either of you to get away to easily.